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This time it was over the record US military aid package to Israel. No less than $38 billion dollars will go to the Jewish state over a ten year period starting in 2018. Even if every penny will go back into the American economy for the purchase of American weapons, why did former Prime Minister Ehud Barak again smack Bibi in the kisser for bungling the matter? Recently Barak hauled Netanyahu over the coals for jeopardizing Israel's national security but he refused to elaborate and left the country guessing. Now after the disclosure of the details, Barak has weighed in. Writing first in the Washington Post, Barak accused Bibi of playing fast and loose by continuing to oppose US President Barack Obama even after it should have been clear the US and Iran had closed the nuclear deal. Bibi should have backed off, even if it was a ' very bad deal' and tried to salvage what he could with the US leader. But on the contrary - Bibi tried to go over Obama's head and accepted a Republican invitation to address the US Congress on this very contentious issue. Barak contends it was an act of folly that only antagonized Obama. This was a crucial period when the US leader would have been ready to listen favorably to some of Israel's legitimate concerns. After all is said and done Obama had agreed to leave almost all of Iran's nuclear weapons facilities in place which could mean a possible breakout in the future.

An unidentified pilotless drone flies into Israeli air space from Syria. Israeli Air Force controllers launch a Patriot (American made) surface-to-air missile. It misses the target. A second Patriot goes streaking skyward. It also goes wide. An Israeli jet then fires an air-to-air rocket - again no bull's eye. After penetrating Israeli airspace by some four kilometers (over two miles) the drone turns around and then flies back unharmed into Syria. A small part of a Patriot missile falls on the head of an Israeli girl far below. She is not seriously hurt.

The delivery of the first two F-35 stealth fighters to Israel this week marks the close of Act II in President Barack Obama's Middle East policy. Act I was based on Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. It removed the only thing that could have fouled up his decision to cut America's losses and get out of the Middle East. Failure to find a diplomatic solution to suspending Iran's nuclear weapons program could have triggered an Israeli preventative strike that would have drawn in the US militarily. From Obama's point of view, this was and is a deliberate and rational policy. The fireworks with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu were simply an inevitable result - collateral damage, it wasn't all personal, 'it was business'. Even Ben Rhodes, apparently in a lapse of megalomania, bragged how he and his buddies had pulled the strings of the American media like puppets.

In the Middle East, Russian Air Force pilots are at it again. Recently they startled two US Navy vessels by roaring over their decks in a mock attack, and now they have threatened an Israeli jet, apparently on a peaceful reconnaissance flight over what was the former Syria, trying to spot more Syrian-Iran shipments of sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the American incident, President Obama viewed it as a one-time thing and did not take it too seriously - along the line of 'boys will be boys'. And Obama probably got this right - if Donald Trump were President we'd probably be in the middle of World War III with Russian's new Czar Vladimir!

'I came, I bombed, now I'm kingmaker of Syria!' Russian President Vladimir Putin is now calling the shots in what is left of the former Syrian state left in ruins after five years of a horrific bloodbath. All the sides, except for the Russians, are now trying to catch their breath in the current cease-fire, while the negotiators have gathered in Geneva seeking some way forward. It was the massive Russian air strikes, which started suddenly five months ago and ended just as surprisingly this week, that have halted the internecine warfare.

Iran's radical Revolutionary Guards didn't waste any time. Just days after the 'moderates' were thought to have made gains in the election, the real rulers of Iran launched more ballistic missiles. Those menacing missiles were painted in Hebrew with the words 'Israel must be wiped out!' Clearly this demonstration had the green light from Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The point is that ballistic missiles have one purpose - to deliver a nuclear warhead. In this case, they had a range of 2,000 kilometers (1240 miles), and they can most definitely target Israel. To their credit, the Revolutionary Guards do not want anyone to get the wrong impression that the moderates are on the ascendancy in Tehran.

Why do Hamas tunnels keep caving in? Is it only due to heavy rain and work accidents, or has Israel solved the problem of those Hamas tunnels being excavated under the border from inside Gaza? More of those tunnels have mysteriously caved-in recently - five in the past three weeks. According to Hamas, twelve of its members have been killed under the rubble. (Yes, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has admitted publicly that his men are tunneling night and day with the aim of launching terror attacks against civilians and IDF soldiers just over the border).

Israeli officials say that so far Hamas has not yet tunneled under the Gaza border into Israel. However, it may be only a matter of time - sooner or later they will. If Hamas managed to surprise the IDF during the last war in July-August, 2014, it is only natural that they will try to do it again. In an attempt to placate the public, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has declared that all measures are being taken to protect the Israeli families living along the frontier. Nonetheless, these civilians keep hearing underground noises and are very worried. Why wouldn't they be? If the tunnelers are digging away, one night the terrorists could suddenly surface above ground and try to kill them or take hostages back to Gaza. So while Prime Minister Netanyahu and his aides are trying to reassure the public, tension is mounting.

From a mountaintop in nearby Cyprus, American and British cyber spies have been hacking into Israel's most closely guarded secrets for years. In a startling expose, the Intercept website has revealed a joint American-British operation 'to steal a bird's-eye-view' of Israeli drone operations. Not only that, they are also monitoring any Israeli preparations for a military strike against Iran's nuclear sites. This is how Intercept described what one Israeli has deemed as the gravest penetration of Israel's 'holiest of holies':

"American and British Intelligence secretly tapped into live video feeds from Israeli drones and fighter jets monitoring military operations in Gaza, watching for a potential strike against Iran, and keeping tabs on the drone technology Israel exports around the world."

The symbolism was stark. Just days before Washington was due to lift billions of dollars of sanctions on Tehran, the Iranians humiliated ten American sailors who were forced to their knees with their hands behind their heads in submission. The photos from the Persian Gulf were flashed around the world showing who is boss in the Persian Gulf. Just hours later, U.S. President Barack Obama ignored the ignominious incident in his last speech to the nation. On the contrary, he lauds the nuclear deal with Iran. And his Secretary of State, John Kerry, even thanks his Iranian counter-part, Javad Zarif, for the subsequent release of the wayward sailors.

The U.S. spies on Israel - so what else is new? If U.S. President Obama spied on German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande, Prime Minister Netanyahu should be proud to be included in such an august group. Besides, didn't Israel and the U.S. team up to spy on Iran's nuclear program and unleash the Stuxnet virus that derailed it in 2011? With advanced cybernetics and hi-tech, it's only natural that nations, having the capability, will employ it to protect and advance their national interests.

Jerusalem and Ankara are reportedly on their way to signing a 'memorandum of understanding’ at secret talks held in Switzerland. If so, it could not have come at a better time. In the midst of the EU's branding of Israeli products from West Bank settlements and the BDS campaign being mounted against the Jewish state, Israel will have scored a major strategic coup with Turkey. However, government sources in Jerusalem caution that 'it's not over until it's over’ and Erdogan is known to be very unpredictable. Just ask Russia's President Putin. But if two of the strongest states in the region are about to bury the hatchet, it is unlikely they will restore their former alliance that was the most powerful in the Middle East.

When Barack Obama and Israel's President, Reuven Rivlin, lit Chanukah candles in the Oval Office, they also cast some light on the truth about the U.S. -Israeli relationship. In the past, much was made about the 'bad blood' between Obama and Netanyahu - Barack Hussein Obama was a closet anti-Semite, although most of his closest friends and advisers were Jewish. On the other hand, a close aide to Obama even accused Bibi of coming close to using the N-word! The Obama-Rivlin meeting has gutted these assumptions. At the same time, it has revealed some underling truths about the Obama-Netanyahu feud over the last nearly seven years. Obama and Bibi simply had different perceptions of what policies they wanted to follow after identifying what their voters would support. Naturally, they were democratically elected.

Whatever you think of Israel's Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, you have to admit he has one of the toughest jobs in the world. Just look at what he has on his plate every morning he wakes up …

The U.S.

America, Israel's best friend, has, under President Barack Obama's leadership, has concocted a wacky deal with Iran, Israel's worst enemy. It will enable the Ayatollahs to produce nuclear weapons in 10 to 15 years or whenever. First Obama pressured Democratic Senators to swallow it hook, line and sinker - they do not even know what's in the 'secret clauses'. So now Bibi, who apparently does, must 'grin and bear it'. His only reasonable course of action is to restore his strained relations with the U.S. President and hopefully bolster Israel's security in the wake of Iran's nuclear ascendancy. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Barack will also agree to bury the hatchet, particularly with the American presidential election looming on the horizon.

It's all over! There was no mistaking President Barack Obama's 'magnanimous in victory' appearance on his live webcast to America's Jewish community leaders. Just a few days go Obama had called 'crazies' those opponents who were still bucking his controversial deal with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. What happened? After more Democratic Senators signed on, it ruled out the attempt to kill the deal in Congress. So the President has now declared he is ready to bury the hatchet with Israel’s Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu:

"We're all pro-Israel... the (U.S.) commitment to Israel is sacrosanct, non- partisan and always will be!"

It's no holds barred, almost. In the current clash between the Obama Administration and Israel, both sides are pulling out all the stops. Secretary John Kerry has now warned that if the U.S. Senate blocks the deal it will trigger a devaluation of the U.S. dollar. Washington will hold her to account. Bear in mind that a majority of U.S. Senators also believe the Iranians have 'fleeced' Kerry and President Barack Obama.

It's not that complicated. Once you get through his brilliant rhetoric, the U.S. President made clear he will not risk the lives of more American soldiers in another Middle East war. In order to do this, Obama has crafted a nuclear deal that Iran can accept - they will be enabled to put their nuclear weapons program in mothballs, revive their sanctioned economy and break out for A-Bombs when they decide to do so in the future. This is the only rational explanation for the accord that has Shiite Iranians dancing in the streets, but has alarmed Israel and the Sunni Arab states. Granted, the U.S. President was masterful in presenting his case for the accord. But once one 'separates the wheat from the chaff' what remains is Obama's grand design for the Middle East.

US President Barack Obama has given Israel's leader Bibi Netanyahu an ultimatum - offer a concession to the Palestinian peace process or the US won't block new anti-Israeli resolutions at the UN General Assembly this fall. This was the gist of Obama's warning to the Israeli people when he was interviewed on Channel 2 TV.

"It smacks of a pinch of hypocrisy" - that was the first official Israeli reaction. It was directed at U.S. President Barack Obama, who told the Atlantic Magazine that he would punish Israel diplomatically for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's election rhetoric about 'no two-two state solution on his watch' and how 'Israeli Arab voters were flocking to the polls in buses'. Hanegbi, who chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, noted that Obama ignored Iran's human rights violations such as executing more people than any other state in the world. This also applied to Turkey, which holds the international record for jailing journalists.